Can you see me?
by 2mindsRhere
Summary: A girl who wants to please and loves to love others has been isolated by her circumstances all her life. All she wants is for people to see that she is not invisible! This will (eventually) be a GaaraXOC story.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! My name is Dragoness17 and I'll be your writer this evening! Cheesy I know… I am the other half of the 2mindsRhere team and I have finally decided to get off my lazy behind and write something. Anyway, this is the first story that I have ever had the inspiration to keep writing and the guts to put up for people to read. I would appreciate it very much if you all could review so I know what needs work. I 'm VERY paranoid about letting my OCs develop into Mary-Sues as well as letting the plot run away to hide in a dark abyss. I'm also concerned about the punctuation (commas are evil) and flow of the piece. Please be nice! This story will most definitely be long with many chapters but I hope to get it done sometime before the end of the summer (probably won't happen but a girl can dream). SO! This chapter is short but I hope to lengthen the chapters as I figure out what the heck I'm doing._

_Ok then! On with the story! (I'm sorry… I ramble sometimes…) -.-u_

_OH! Almost forgot._ _I do not own Naruto. Kishimoto does because he put his blood, sweat and tears into what the franchise is today. For that I applaud him! (Sorry, rambling… I'm ADD you'll have to excuse me.) NOW on with the story!_

Can you see me?

Chapter 1

It was a peaceful morning in Konohagakure. The sun was just barely peeking over the trees chasing away the cool night with a faint heat felt on every surface its light touched. The birds, which had been up even before the slightest hint of sunlight, now sang their fancies with redoubled efforts. The creatures of the forest stirred, contributing to the buzz of the awakening woods. Northeast of the Hokage monument, situated within the trees not so far away from the main village, was a small cottage. It was a simple place, suited to comfortably house only one or two people. Only one individual inhabited the old house, a girl by the name of Naomi currently twelve years of age, and about to begin the life of a shinobi.

However, said girl was oblivious to the awakening of the world as she was too busy snoring, buried underneath the covers of her bed. The light of the morning sun filtered in through a window seat at the far end of the room, illuminating the space with a soft glow. The whole house was quiet, seemingly asleep along with its owner. Suddenly, the sleepy atmosphere of the house was shattered as loud, obnoxious buzzing erupted throughout the girl's room, as well as some of the surrounding area. The bundle of fabric twitched, the snoring halted with one final snort, and Naomi finally began the painful struggle of removing herself from her bed.

After wrestling her way out of the blankets, Naomi scrambled to the opposite wall of her room and blindly fumbled with the switches to her alarm. Once the demonic clock was silenced, Naomi stretched, nearly fell over, and cracked just about every joint possible. She sighed, not feeling the least bit more awake as she trudged to the closet to pick out her clothes for the day. She rubbed her face in an attempt to chase the fog from her mind, and then shuffled into her bathroom, mumbling nonsensical things about wanting more sleep.

She allowed herself to take a rather long shower, letting the hot water soothe her nerves for the coming day. Noticing her fingers had gotten wrinkly, she got out of the shower and picked up a comb to begin the arduous task of detangling her dark brown hair. Once done, she pulled the shoulder length strands into a neat bun on the left side of her head, pinning her side swept bangs so they wouldn't be in her face when her hair dried. She walked out of the bathroom and changed into her clothes before grabbing her ninja gear and walking down the hall to the kitchen. Before she made it there though, she caught sight of a wall clock and made a mad dash to her refrigerator. She grabbed a piece of cinnamon bread, stuffed it in her mouth, and hightailed it to the front door.

Naomi paused with her hand on the doorknob, getting a distinct feeling that she was forgetting something. She gasped, realizing what it was and sprinted back to her bedroom. She nearly swung the door off its hinges as she burst into her room, danced around her bed to her bedside table and grabbed her new headband, tying it around her waist as she sped out of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! I know it's been a while since I put the first chapter up. I've been really busy this past week and didn't really have the time to work on it. Also, I'm lazy. :)

Thanks to Child of Wind and Wolves and AniuTheWarriorAngel for the reviews! Yeah, I knew the first chapter was really short, but like I said, I'm still trying to find my way around the site as well as figure out my writing style.

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I do not make any profit from this whatsoever. This is just a story of fiction by a fan... ergo fanfiction.

Dragoness17

Chapter 2

Naomi leapt through the trees and was soon running as fast as she could down the road on her way to the academy. They had graduated yesterday and today Iruka-sensei was assigning them to their three-man teams. Naomi was so happy she couldn't keep the smile off her face. All those years of training and studying had led up to this day, and she had graduated as one of the top of the class! Sakura and Sasuke had placed above her of course and Shikamaru could have been top of the class if the lazy bum had tried in the first place. Naomi's grin was spreading so wide that she was sure she looked deranged and she offhandedly wondered if any of the patrolling ninjas would arrest a twelve-year-old looking girl with a maniacal smile on her face thinking she was a threat.

She ran down the path that took her by the Akimichi clan's household and as she approached she spied Chouji's mother putting out clothes to dry.

"Good morning Akimichi-san!" Naomi called cheerfully, intending to pass by in her quest to not be late for school. However, Chouji's mother thwarted her plans when she called to Naomi again after returning the greeting.

"Naomi-chan! Hold on just a moment!" She called before disappearing into the house. Naomi ran to the edge of the property, not wanting to intrude, and bent over, her hands on her knees to take as much advantage of the short break as possible. A few minutes later Chouji's mom returned with a small box wrapped in a blue and green plaid cloth. "Here you are! A thank you for all the delicious vegetables you gave us the other day!" The larger woman said as she practically shoved the box into Naomi's hands.

"Oh! Thank you so much," Naomi exclaimed. "but you really didn't have to! I ended up growing more than I could eat this year and I didn't want the extra to go to waste." She reasoned, but didn't show any signs of refusing the gift.

"Nonsense! It's not every day that we get such a nice surprise like that." Ms. Akimichi said, waving a hand in a dismissive way. "Besides a young girl like you needs to keep her strength up if she wants to be a successful Kunoichi." She winked and batted Naomi's shoulder. "Putting a little meat on your bones wouldn't hurt either." Naomi blinked once in surprise. She wasn't _that_ thin was she? She brushed the comment off and in the next second a bark of laughter escaped her lips.

"Well I'm sure this will help with that! Thank you again Akimichi-san!" She said, smiling and bowing once before setting off on the road again.

The Hokage Monument grew larger as she got closer and Naomi opted to take a more direct route to her goal by leaping across the rooftops. She could see the academy building as she made her way to the top of a nearby apartment complex, and in her excitement she tried to leap to a roof a little too far away. Her heart lurched as she realized her mistake halfway through the jump, thankfully though she was able to stick the landing, but barely. She plowed on ahead and finally launched herself from the last roof, almost tripping as she landed in the academy yard. She jogged to the door and paused to catch her breath, then jerked open the doors and bolted down the halls into the classroom only to stop abruptly to avoid running into a hoard of girls beating up an orange and blue lump.

_'Is that __Naruto__? I thought he failed graduation.'_She hummed quietly to herself._'__Iruka-__sensei must have given him another chance.'_Naomi mused as she observed the not so uncommon situation, _'I wonder what he's done now.'_

Sighing, she looked around the old room for a place to sit. Her eyes landed on a seat at the far end of the room and some of her excitement for the day was suddenly squashed. Her heartbeat quickened when her brain recognized who was sitting in the seat next to it, Uchiha Sasuke…

She mentally kicked herself for reacting to her childhood crush. True, he was still cute, but his personality and attitude toward the girls that confessed to him almost constantly vastly outweighed his good looks, in her opinion. After all the times she had seen girls confess their undying love for him, only to have their hearts smashed to pieces, she realized that any attempts she might make would turn out the same. Besides, who wanted a rude, arrogant boy whose only reply to anything was an indifferent "Hn" around them all the time? Naomi had eventually reasoned that she formed a crush on him because all the other girls around her had done so, and she didn't want to stick out. Not that anyone noticed her very much back then anyways. Eventually, after she realized how pointless the crush was, she had carried on like everything was normal. However, in the process she had somehow formed a strange friendship with the young Uchiha. Naomi wasn't even sure she could call it a 'friendship' per se. It had started as a, 'You don't bother me and I won't bother you,' type thing. Soon enough though, she had begun to notice the things Sasuke had to go through thanks to his rabid mob of female fans and she started to feel sorry for him.

Once, when Naomi had been at the market buying groceries, she had seen Sasuke running as fast as he could through the crowd before making a sharp turn into a nearby alley. She was confused at first, but then understanding dawned on her as three girls came running up seconds later pleading for him to wait. They stopped near the stall she was at, having lost sight of him, and began calling for him in what Naomi guessed they thought were their most enticing voices. She had shuddered, understanding that she could very well have ended up like that. She paid for her things and walked up to the girls. In a soft, innocent voice, Naomi explained where Sasuke had supposedly run off to, directing the girls with her index finger. She had felt guilty for a second when the girls thanked her with such happy faces before resuming the hunt, though the feeling quickly faded when she thought about the prey. She had puffed her flat bangs off her forehead before walking nonchalantly past the alley and saying, "They're gone now," in what she hoped was a reassuring tone. After that she had gone about her business, but not without noticing a figure creeping out of the alley and inconspicuously walking back they way they had come.

Naomi didn't have another encounter with him until several months after that. She remembered that morning had been the day Sasuke started wearing a different outfit. It was the one he currently wore. That day he entered the room wearing his dark blue, high collared shirt and white pants. The girls swarmed him like vultures to a fresh piece of meat, and Iruka-sensei had a hard time separating them so he could start the lesson. When lunchtime rolled around, almost every girl had gathered around Sasuke before he could make his escape. Naomi had decided to find someplace quiet before she went def, so she had made her way to the top of the entrance to the roof, sitting cross-legged and pulling out a book she was reading. Some time later, Naomi had become completely absorbed in her book when a white and blue blur landed almost on top of her. Her wide hazel eyes met just as wide dark ones and Naomi exhaled, glad it was just Sasuke and not anybody dangerous. She probably said something to this effect, as Sasuke had looked at her skeptically. Naomi had simply sighed and told him to relax since she had no intention of jumping him or ratting him out. He must have deemed her not that much of a threat, because he sat down around the corner of the air conditioning unit she had been leaning against.

A few minutes had passed in silence as Naomi resumed her reading and Sasuke... did whatever he did. Naomi hadn't really been paying attention. However, the comfortable silence was interrupted when they both heard thunderous footsteps and a shout of,

'Maybe he's on the roof,' from below them.

Sasuke had tsk'd and made to jump away when Naomi stopped him. She had known that the air conditioning unit was a fake because she had seen Naruto use it to hide once or twice. She quickly unhooked the latch and had motioned to Sasuke to crawl under. The skeptical look had come right back, Naomi was fed up, and she told him in a no-nonsense tone,

'Look, do you want to hide, or do you want to get chased all over town?'

He had glared at her indignantly but scrambled under the hollow, metal box anyway and Naomi sat on top of the latch so no one would notice it. In the next second a large group of six girls had stormed onto the roof. She had innocently looked up, seemingly startled from her book that she was able to grab at the last second and asked them if they were looking for Sasuke. Their objective _had_ been pretty obvious. They had answered yes and asked if she had seen him, to which Naomi had shaken her head saying that she had been the only one up there the entire time. They had seemed convinced and filed back to the door, Naomi leaned over the edge and told them that she would let them know if she spotted Sasuke. Then, she had watched as five girls made their way back downstairs.

Naomi was unsure at the time because she thought six girls had come onto the roof, but she hadn't paid that much attention so then it had been her turn to be the skeptical one. She sat back against Sasuke's hiding place, deciding to play it safe by acting like she really had been the only one up there. She had pretended to read as she listened for signs of any others when Sasuke had whispered to her asking if they had left. Naomi had replied with a quiet 'Don't know,' and no sooner had the words left her mouth, someone behind her had yelled 'AHA!' Naomi had been so startled that she dropped her book again and she whirled around, genuinely annoyed at all the interruptions to her leisure time. Naomi nearly shouted at the girl, complaining about not being able to get any peace during her break. The other girl had been thrown off course, but fired back that she had heard Naomi say something. Naomi's brain had blanked for a nanosecond, however, she was able to play it off as disbelief while she lied through her teeth. Naomi said she had been reading her book and something bad was about to happen to the main character so she had said 'Oh no!' Naomi had prayed the girl would fall for it because even now, she knew that was the worst lie she had ever come up with. Thankfully though the Sasuke stalker bought it and huffily made her way back to the door and stomped down the stairs, other footsteps followed her descent. Naomi then did a once over of the roof. Not finding anybody, she returned to her perch, telling Sasuke it was safe to come out. Sasuke had crawled out from under the metal frame, looked her straight in the eye, and in all seriousness said, 'That was a horrible lie.'

_'Ungrateful jerk.'_ She had thought, then said curtly, 'She believed it did she not?' and made her way back to the classroom to get ready for the next lesson.

After that Naomi began noticing the strange interactions between the two of them. They never talked much, but they just seemed to have this mutual understanding. To this day, some of the longest conversations they ever had were if they were studying during their break. Honestly, Naomi thought that he was just glad to know one female that didn't worship him. She had made the top of the roof entrance her spot and occasionally he would join her. She might throw a short remark at him, he would usually reply with some sort of grunt, or if he was especially ticked off, be it by Naruto, or his fan club, she would just remain silent and let him cool off. As months and eventually a year passed by, they had practically memorized the other's facial expressions, body language, habits, and so on, and would often communicate with just that. Naomi had learned that Sasuke liked tomatoes when she noticed the slices mysteriously disappearing from her lunchbox, and she started to secretly deliver the overflow from her garden to his apartment door, though he probably knew it was her. Sasuke had developed the habit of sometimes using her as a scapegoat, or a buffer against his fangirls. She was annoyed at first, but ultimately came to the point of not caring.

Recently though she had begun to harbor the hope that maybe he would fall for her since they had become friends. This idea, Naomi knew was ridiculous because the boy obviously had other goals, as did she. Besides, she knew that if she started pursuing him now it would most definitely destroy their unique friendship, and she didn't want that. Naomi huffed a short breath and shoved the persistent feelings to the back of her mind as she walked to the empty seat. She plopped down and folded one arm on the smooth desk, resting her chin in the other.

"What's he done now?" Naomi asked, directing the question at Sasuke as she stared past him at the mob of girls pummeling Naruto into the floor.

Her only answer was a quiet growl of, "I swear I'm going to kill that idiot." She tore her eyes away from the free entertainment and flicked her gaze up, staring questioningly at the Uchiha whose heated glare had not shifted from the black board at the front of the room since she had arrived.

Naomi blinked, "What's the matter with you?" Sasuke turned his glare on her briefly before turning back to the blackboard. She raised an eyebrow as she tried desperately not to let her mouth twist into a smile.

'_Oooh__,__Saucey's __angry,'_ she thought to herself as her laughter threatened to force its way out of her throat.

"You should've seen it Naomi-san," A boy sitting on the row below her said, not bothering to hide his snickers. "Naruto and Sasuke kissed!" He emphasized this point by puckering his lips and making obnoxious kissing noises.

"What?" She exclaimed, both eyebrows shooting up at hearing this new development. Beside her Naomi heard a small huff and could only guess that Sasuke was somewhere between hiding in a hole and going mental.

_'Oho! This is going to be fun.'_ Naomi thought with a sly glance in the Uchiha's general direction. Naomi had gradually discovered that annoying the boy was far more amusing than fawning over him in secret.

Naomi leaned farther forward on the desk, her full attention on how this incident had happened. The boy, whose name was Akira, told her how Naruto had suddenly jumped on top of the desk to glare at Sasuke, then Taka had bumped into Naruto by accident and caused him to fall forward, consequently initiating the kiss. Taka, who was sitting beside the other boy, had his hands in front of his face and made an indistinct groan at the retelling of the story, though, Naomi could tell he was trying to stamp down his own grin.

Naomi snorted, sitting back and covering her mouth with both hands as she turned to Sasuke, her hazel eyes dancing with poorly concealed mirth. The Uchiha boy was now glaring sidelong at her. Unfortunately for him all this did was make the other two boys laugh harder and broke the dam on Naomi's own flood of laughter. She laughed so hard her laughter became silent and she buried her face in her crossed arms on the desk. She wasn't normally this giggly, but the excitement for finally becoming a ninja contributed greatly to her giddy mood. After a few moments, their laughter became bubbling giggles and chuckles and she noticed the sounds of beating and pounding had stopped. As she sat trying to wait out the giggles she registered the sound of two chairs scraping farther down the row.

"What's so funny?" Asked an almost too sweet voice.

Naomi lifted her head wiping at tears and, leaning forward to look past Sasuke, got an eyeful of bright pink hair. Just beyond that, an orange, blue, and yellow lump sat slumped in the chair. Naruto's new headband had slipped partially down over his swollen face and his vivid yellow hair was in greater disarray than usual. She felt sorry for him because he was as much, maybe even more, a victim of this as Sasuke.

"Good Morning, Sakura-san!" Naomi trilled brightly, crow's-feet appearing in the corners of her eyes as her laughter induced grin threatened to split her face. "Nothing really, just poking a little fun." Amusement stretching her smile even wider as Sakura looked at her skeptically and Sasuke closed his eyes with a slight down tilt of his head. Trying to suppress a migraine no doubt.

Two seconds later Sakura's personality did a complete one-eighty as she focused her attention on Sasuke, her voice at a pitch Naomi didn't think was humanly possible. Naomi began giggling again but she forced them to be quiet as she didn't want to incur the wrath of Sakura Haruno. That girl could be scary as heck, violent too. Naomi calmed herself and rested her head on the desk, seeing that she wasn't going to be included in any conversations anytime soon. Akira and Taka had started talking to one another again and she didn't want to interrupt. She knew she didn't have the energy to attempt to carry a conversation with the walking ice cube sitting next to her, or the chatter box that sounded way too cheery for this time of the morning, so she decided she'd take a nap while they waited on the teacher.

She sat for about five minutes and absentmindedly listened to the other conversations around the room. She heard Ino talking to Shikamaru about something, and she could hear Chouji close by plowing through his breakfast bag of chips. As the noise of almost thirty voices filtered in and out of her ears, Naomi slowly became aware of a slight, pulsing pain in her head.

'_Wonderful, a headache. That's just what I needed this early in the morning.'_ She sighed through her nose. _'Maybe the nap will help.'_

As her breathing slowed and the noises in the room became muddled, Naomi shivered and her last thought before sinking into a shallow haze was, _'It's too cold.'_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello everyone! I'm back! Sorry it's taken me so long to post a new chapter. I finished this chapter a while back, forgot to post it, and then started to work on chapter four. So ya'll get two new chapters this time! YAY! Reviews are appreciated!_

_Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not._

_Dragoness17_

_Chapter 3_

_Naomi was roused from her sleep when she felt a smack on the side of her head. She cracked one eye open, saw that Iruka-sensei had started to assign teams, and nodded. Silently expressing her gratitude to Sasuke for saving her from Iruka-sensei's, "No sleeping in class," lecture… again…_

As she sat up, a sudden wave of dizziness ripped through her head. She inhaled through her nose and laced her fingers together to rub her thumbs near the corners of her eyes. Resisting the urge to groan, she willed the whirling pain behind her eyeballs to stop. After a few seconds, the dizzy spell receded and she waved off Sasuke's glance of… dare she think it… concern?

'_Aw, don't I feel special.'_ She thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

She turned her attention back to who was being put on which teams but found it difficult because her entire body felt increasingly cold. She managed to ignore the worst of it and instead focused on Sensei, who had just called Naruto's name. Her amusement increased when Iruka-sensei called out Naruto's other teammates. One was Sakura, and the other was none other than he of the thousand emotions, Sasuke Uchiha. He had been placed on a team with one of his worst fangirls, and the one guy that could manage to tick him off in two seconds. She almost laughed but a fierce wave of cold shot through her body and she closed her eyes to resist the urge to shudder violently.

'_Please don't let me faint. Please don't let me faint.'_ She repeated like a mantra in her head.

The chills finally subsided to bearable levels and she exhaled. The whole class was laughing at an argument Naruto and Sasuke got into that she had missed. She laughed so she wouldn't look clueless and listened as a few more teams were called. Then, Iruka-sensei called her name, followed by Akira and Taka.

She looked down at the two boys in the row below hers. They high-fived each other and then turned to her, hesitating momentarily. Akira gave her a thumbs up and Taka grinned happily, albeit somewhat strained. She grinned back but on the inside she was feeling apprehensive. The two boys had been best friends since childhood and she had even played with them sometimes when they were kids. However, the boys' mothers had put a stop to their interactions and she wasn't sure what kind of stories they had filled the boys heads with.

She remembered one incident a long time ago. Since the Sarutobi family had taken care of her until she was old enough to care for herself, Asuma-san had taken her to the playground one day. Taka, Akira, and their mothers had been there too, but they had been too busy talking to really notice who their children were playing with. After maybe an hour or so, Akira and Taka had been called to their mothers. She, having no one else to play with, ran back to Asuma and requested that they go eat some dango. He lifted her onto his shoulders and as they were walking away, she heard them warning the little boys.

"_Don't get too close to her, understand? We don't want you to get hurt."_ One of them had said, not really bothering to lower her voice.

"_Yes, her mother came from a very violent country and abandoned her here. It's not safe to stay around her." _ The other one said, hushed, having a little more tact.

Once they were some distance away, she had asked Asuma, _"Why do they say mean things like that?"_

Asuma had sighed, smoke from his cigarette blowing into her face. He chuckled as she coughed and swatted it away. _"Some people are just afraid of what they don't know or understand."_

"_But if they don't know what I'm like then they shouldn't say things that aren't true!"_ She had said indignantly.

"_That's true, but people will still do it anyway,"_ was his reply.

She had pouted then, _"I'm gonna make it so that everyone knows me! Then when everybody knows me, they won't have anything bad to say!"_ She ended by crossing her arms with a little _'hmph'_.

"_Yes, yes."_ He had said, sighing again.

She had pinched her nose, _"Asuma-san, you stink."_

He had reached up and poked her in the side. Then he set her down and half-chased her the rest of the way to the dango shop.

The women had been right to some degree. She had been told small, simple details about her past when she was younger, which she accepted easily. When she was older, Sarutobi told her how she had come to live in Konoha.

Sometime in late November twelve years ago, a woman had entered the village with some merchants from the water country. She was carrying an infant that was barely only a few weeks old. When the merchants left the village, the child was not seen with the woman. Later an infant was found in a basket on the steps of the Hokage building. There had been a piece of paper in the basket. It gave her name, birthday, and the names of her parents.

Naomi had accepted this fairly easily as well. Yes, she was different from the other kids who had parents but she had plenty of people who had cared for and loved her. Sometimes, the other kids would tease her about the fact that she had no parents and she would become depressed. Eventually, though, she had reasoned that it was in the past, she could not change it so she just had to deal with it and keep going forward. Which is exactly what she did.

As she grew up, she would smile and be friendly to anyone and everyone, regardless of how they treated her; she developed a compassionate heart and loved to help anyone who needed it. She had been rather oblivious as a child however, only sometimes noticing the mysterious estrangement of many of her friends. If she did notice this, she wouldn't think too much of it and move on to making more friends. Saru-jii had called her a social butterfly once and she had been confused, thinking she had sprouted butterfly wings or something.

She still looked fondly back on those days. The days when her kid logic was the answer to everything, how it had made life seem so simple.

'_Too bad it really isn't that simple,'_ she thought a little bitterly.

As she got older, she began to see the other children's treatment of her. When she was in kunoichi training she was teased about her curly hair. So, she had eventually started wearing it up to hide the curls. Time passed by and she noticed whenever she tried to interact with the other kids like she usually did, they would look at her strangely. Because of this she became withdrawn and quiet around anybody she didn't know very well. She became friends with some people through one way or another, though none were really super close. Many of them would fade out as time passed. The people that she got along with the best were grown-ups whose caution had been dissolved by her polite and energetic demeanor. Besides, who didn't love a cute, innocent, kid?

She was never really included in any of the other children's games, either. She would just, kind of, be _there_. Usually in the way somehow. Several times she wondered if anything would be different if she acted like Naruto, but she knew she had become too self conscious and awkward to act like that. She often wondered if she had some undiscovered power to turn herself invisible. At least that would help her be a good shinobi, right?

Naomi sighed at her optimistic pessimism, telling herself that she definitely had a social life… probably… maybe.

She brought her attention back to Iruka, who had just finished telling them that they would meet their Jounin senseis later in the afternoon. They were then dismissed for lunch and Akira and Taka were discussing where to go. She glanced over, a silent laugh leaving her throat when she saw that Sasuke had already disappeared to parts unknown. She looked back to her new teammates.

'_Maybe they'll invite me to eat with them. We are part of a team now after all,'_ She thought hopefully, but as she watched the boys make their way to the door, that hope was effectively squashed. _'Oh… Well then… I guess I'll be eating by myself again today.'_

She put her head down, feeling another wave of cold sweep over her and she shivered slightly.

"Naomi? Are you coming with us?"

Her head shot up to see the both boys waiting at the door, looking at her. She couldn't be absolutely sure, but were they scrutinizing her?

'_Oh dear…'_

"Oh! Yeah, sure! Sorry." She chirped, hurriedly grabbing her lunch and following after them.

They didn't make it very far down the hall though before a surge of blinding, piercing cold erupted in her chest. Her eyes rolled back and she squeezed them shut as she fell to one knee. She blindly grabbed the edge of a windowsill and kneeled, hunched over as she fought to pull air back into her lungs.

"Hey, what happened?!" She suddenly heard a voice close to her.

It sounded like Taka. She tried opening her eyes to see who it was, but her vision was swimming so much that she had to close them again to keep from getting sick.

"Are you okay?" She heard Akira ask.

She swallowed thickly, and stood up, "Yes… I'm okay. Just a little dizzy spell is all."

"You don't look okay," Was Akira's reply.

She opened her eyes again, her vision somewhat better, when she felt a warm hand placed on her forehead.

"You're freezing!" Taka exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Akira said, repeating his friend's action. His eyes widened upon feeling the chill on her skin. "We need to get you to the infirmary." He said, his normal jocular tone suddenly very serious.

Naomi, at this point, having broken out into a cold sweat and halfway to passing out, agreed. She used their shoulders for leverage as she pushed off of the wall and began walking at a snail's pace to the nurse's office. Akira and Taka hovered on either side of her, helping to support her if she stumbled or started to list off to one side.

Taka opened the door to the infirmary, she uttered a 'thanks' and walked in. She went over to a bed that was placed near the window in the warm sun and curled up as tight as she possibly could. The sun didn't really help much and the random thought that she must look like a cat flitted through her mind. She heard Akira send Taka off to find the nurse and then start rummaging around in one of the closets. She stayed where she was, curled up and shaking, wondering how in the world this, whatever it was, hit her so fast.

Akira carried a bunch of fluffy looking white blankets into her line of sight and she straightened up to grab a few and wrap them around her. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped layer after layer of the blankets around her until the only thing that could be seen in the puffy white lump was her head from the nose up.

'_It's like I'm wrapped in clouds!'_ She thought, her cold delusional mind making her thoughts a bit silly.

Akira was now at the sink on the far side of the room filling up a hot water bottle. He finished and brought it to her. She immediately snatched the warm object and pulled it into her cocoon, pressed between her bent knees and chest.

"Ohmygoodness. Thankyousomuch. You'reawesome!" She gushed, immensely thankful for the warmth the hot water was radiating to her body.

Akira blinked before giving a nervous smile and sitting down in a nearby chair. "Thanks I guess," he chuckled, "You're body temperature is really low for some reason. That should help you stay warm for a little while." He said semiprofessionally.

She nodded and closed her eyes, thinking, "Hey Akira?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Do you want to be a medical ninja someday?" She asked as another shiver overtook her.

He looked surprised for a second, "Ah… Yeah. Is it that obvious?"

She smiled, "A little." they then fell back into awkward silence.

Another moment's pause and he spoke again, "My dad was a medic nin. He helped his teammates out a lot." Akira's jokester grin came back to his face for a second, but fell away in the next.

Naomi's brain caught up with what that meant a second too late.

"He died on an S-rank a while back though." He continued before she could backpedal.

Pain stabbed at her chest and she berated herself for her thoughtless comment. "I'm sorry Akira I didn't mean-" She began, but was cut off.

"Don't worry about it! You didn't know!" He grinned again.

She tried to say something else but pain throbbed stronger behind her eyes and she pressed her forehead to the hot water bottle, hissing through her teeth. Just then the door opened and the nurse walked in followed by Taka and Iruka-sensei, who closed the door behind them.

"Why don't you boys go ahead and get ready to meet your Sensei. You can tell them about Naomi-chan's situation." Iruka-sensei suggested.

Akira looked as if he would protest so Naomi spoke up reassuringly,

"It's okay. I'll be fine." She said, giving a little smile.

Akira gave a nod and he and Taka left the room. Minutes passed as the nurse took her vitals and listened to her breathing. As she sat through this, Naomi began to sniffle and her eyelids grew heavy. The Nurse had to peel away the layers of blankets to get her blood pressure. So Naomi was left with a ring of blankets around her on the bed, still clutching the hot water bottle like her life was depending on it.

Quite suddenly, Naomi felt the urge to sneeze. She nudged the nurse away out of habit (she didn't want to sneeze on her) and the nurse took the hint and backed off a little. She inhaled shallowly a couple of times and felt something strange move in her arms. The pressure behind her eyes was building and with each passing moment the chill and dizziness was multiplying and converging in her head. In the next instant, several things happened that Naomi would have to be told about later.

Iruka-sensei lunged forward, tore the hot water bottle from her grasp and threw it across the room, flipping a nearby bed up to shield himself and the nurse. The pressure in Naomi's head compacted behind her nose and she sneezed. The hot water bottle, still in mid-air, expanded rapidly and exploded, sending rubber and what should have been hot water everywhere. However, instead of hot water, chunks of ice flew across the room, cracking the glass of the window.

In the moment that she had sneezed, the pressure in Naomi's head was relieved, but was replaced with a fierce pain that spread like a tsunami through her head and body. When Iruka-sensei and the nurse turned their attention back to her, she had already blacked out from the intense, unexpected agony of the strange sneeze.


	4. Chapter 4

_ The first part of this chapter was pretty easy to write but the second part was an absolute nightmare. I don't know why but I just started running out of ideas. Dear goodness, I hope it's not writers block. As always I love reviews! Also, let me know if the characters (other than the ones I made up) are, well... in character. I did my best, but I'm always nitpicking. Bad habit I guess. For the chapters to come, I apologize if I don't update frequently. I am getting ready for my freshman year in college and there is JUST TOO MUCH TO DO! Ok I'm done..._

_I do not own Naruto. The franchise belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

_~Dragoness17_

* * *

Chapter 4

When Naomi awoke later, she found she had been moved to the hospital. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know she had been moved there, the smell of the disinfectant was enough. She lay in the somewhat uncomfortable hospital bed just resting, listening to the machines and other things around her. She was still really cold and neither her clothes nor the hospital blankets helped much. As soon the thought passed through her sickness addled mind, goosebumps rose on her skin as she shivered. She inhaled rather loudly and another smell invaded her nostrils, one she knew all too well.

"Saru-jii, how many times have they told you not to smoke in the hospital?" All she got as a response though, was a grumpy 'humph.'

She grinned to herself, stretching and shivering again before grabbing her pillow and clutching it to her chest. Really, she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. She was so very tired, and achy… very, very achy. She sniffled then coughed a little.

"That was quite a stir you caused at the academy today," Sarutobi spoke somewhere to her right, puffing on his pipe leisurely.

She chuckled low in her throat, stretching again to try to rid herself of the aching stiffness in her bones, "Why thank you!" There was a pause, "What'd I do?"

Though her eyes were closed she visualized the tic on Saru-jii's eyebrow whenever she acted like a smart-aleck. She knew it was there. She was just too lazy to open her eyes.

He sighed, "To begin, you cracked a window—"

"I swear I wasn't singing," She interrupted.

"Be quiet!" He barked and Naomi stifled a fit of giggles combined with a coughing fit in her pillow.

Sarutobi cleared his throat to get her attention, "You also blew up a hot water bottle, and burst several pipes within the building itself. Now most of the first floor and half of the second floor have no water and are in need of repairs. They were barely able to cut off the water supply to the academy before it flooded." he finished, going back to his pipe.

Her eyebrows scrunched together and she shivered yet again, "Well it sounds very interesting in theory, but… How did I do that?" she asked, draping her arm over her eyelids, "I mean, I've been in class all day and the last thing I remember was being in the infirmary when I almost sneezed my brains… out…" She trailed off, "Oh dear… What the heck happened?"

"Maybe you can figure that out by opening your eyes and taking a look at this hospital room." Sarutobi said, sounding a little more than slightly irritated.

'_All of a sudden, I kinda don't want to.'_ She thought, but sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes anyway.

What she saw surprised her greatly. Sarutobi was standing with his hands folded behind his back, facing the window. The light of the late day sun was bright in her eyes, but as she got accustomed to it, she began to see tiny twinkles and sparkles of light. She sat up and watched the sunlight dance around the room, glistening and shimmering off of every surface.

In Konoha, it was the middle of summer, but in the room it looked like Jack Frost had had a party. There was frost completely covering the windows, drawing jagged, flowery designs across the glass expanse. Every possible surface was also covered in a thin layer of frost. It was all over the covers of her bed and she could feel the crystals pricking at her bare feet as she got up to walk around the room. She noticed that when she breathed, she could see her breath as it hung in the air. She was excited at first, she loved anything about winter, but then a thought occurred to her,

"Am I doing this?" She spun to face Sarutobi.

Health temporarily forgotten, she realized that had been a bad Idea when a fresh wave of dizziness and some nausea rolled through her head. She had wandered over towards the windows so she pressed her spinning head to the cool glass. To her surprise, the frost, instead of melting at the touch of her skin, grew and spread out from where her forehead rested against the surface.

She looked at Sarutobi slowly this time, "Saru-jii… What's going on?" She asked tentatively.

The third Hokage closed his eyes and she watched as the smoke rose from his pipe in winding grey snakes, "Take a seat Naomi. I had hoped to wait until you were a little older to tell you about this but I guess I don't have a choice now."

Naomi walked slowly back to the hospital bed and sat down stiffly on the edge. Her wide, slightly fearful eyes were trained on Sarutobi as he sat down in a chair adjacent to her, placing his hat on the bedside table between them. She sat cross-legged and waited patiently as he contemplated what to say.

Sarutobi took a long drag from his pipe and began, "I have told you before how you came to reside here in this village," She nodded, "but what I have kept from you up till now, is your lineage."

"My lineage?" She asked, her anxiety beginning to dissolve into curiosity. She was always interested in learning more about her past.

"Yes. After you were found, we conducted an investigation on your origins based on the names left on the note that was found with you. Through our efforts, we discovered that your parents lived in the Water Country, but had both been killed just a few days before you appeared here." He paused and took another drag from his pipe, "Are you familiar with the term Kekkei Genkai?"

'_Oh don't tell me…'_ She thought cynically, but answered anyway,

"It's an ability that's passed down in the genetics of a clan, right?"

He nodded, "Yes that is correct." Pausing, Sarutobi looked up at the ceiling, as if gathering his thoughts from the white squares above him. "Years ago, the people in the Water Country were going through a period of great war and strife. They blamed this on the clans that possessed the Kekkei Genkai… bloodlines, if you will… and thus, they hunted them down and exterminated them. However, there were a small few clan members were able to go into hiding and live as normal citizens. Your mother and father were part of that few."

Naomi was chewing on her lip now, waiting for her suspicions to be confirmed.

"Your mother and father hailed from the Yuki Clan in the Water Country. The bloodline of this clan gives the user the ability to combine the water and wind elemental styles into ice. We do not know much about this bloodline other than the basics. We had assumed that all clan members that are left were able to use this ability from birth, but you have not shown any signs of the trait until today." Sarutobi studied Naomi as she fiddled with the rim of the Kage hat, digesting the information.

"So… My mom and dad were both from this Yuki Clan and went into hiding… Then after they had me they were somehow found out, hunted down and killed?" she asked.

He nodded.

"And somehow I was spirited away and brought here before their murderers knew they had had a child?"

Sarutobi nodded again.

"We believe that to be the case, since no one has ever come after you in the twelve years since then." He added.

"I… see…" she said, deep in thought.

'_Well… this is… different… I always thought my parents might be alive somewhere... Hah. I guess it was kind of silly to think so. At least… at least they passed on the clan's abilities to me. So now I can honor their sacrifices by using it to the best of my potential,'_ she thought, her boundless optimism replacing the dejection she felt at learning of her family's fate.

'_So… what do I do now? I __will__ be a ninja… but if this bloodline is really that infamous… will they even let me? Even if they did, would I be able to control it? Heck, there isn't even anyone who knows very much about the clan anyway!'_ thoughts of the unknown started to clog her mind.

She pulled the Kage hat into her lap and began to trace the red "fire" symbol with her thumb. After a few long seconds, she took a deep breath. She let it out and watched as it swelled and disappeared into the cold, dry air of the room.

"Ok then. What now?" She looked determinedly at Sarutobi.

He closed his eyes and made a noise accompanied by a slight nod of his head, "I see that you still wish to be a shinobi, then?" He said, looking very much all knowing.

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Does your grandson still stalk you on a daily basis?"

Sarutobi sighed at the mention of his very persistent grandchild, his smoky breath lingering longer in the air. "Alright then, but I can't let you train in a team just yet. We are still not sure what your bloodline can do and to what extent you can use it right now. I will find you a teacher and introduce you to them once you have recovered." He said, getting up, "Also I will have something fashioned to suppress some of your chakra."

Her head tilted slightly to the side, "Why would we need to suppress my chakra? Wouldn't it be best if we didn't so that I could learn control quicker?"

He folded his hands behind his back again, "For one, to keep you from unconsciously using your ability until you can gain better control over it." He said, gesturing to the room as an appropriate example.

"Another reason is that I do not yet know what the public reaction to someone possessing such a bloodline could be. So I request that you keep this a secret from everyone except your teacher until I inform you that you can use it freely. Right now, I feel that would be best for both the citizen's safety and yours." He stated, staring her down.

'_Crap…'_

She dipped her head, looking at the wide hat.

'_Yeah, he's right. Some of the adults don't like me anyway. If they found out about this, it would only add fuel to their fires.'_ She huffed through her nose.

'_I guess this means I won't be seeing much of Taka and Akira either…'_

She was somewhat disappointed because she felt like she was starting to get along with the two, but then again, she was relieved that they wouldn't be in any danger of getting hurt by her abilities.

"Okay." She conceded, handing the Kage hat back to Sarutobi.

He placed it back on his head, smiling just a tad bit smugly. She pouted and he blew the smoke from his pipe in concealed amusement. The cloud burned her eyes and tickled her nose as she tried desperately to wave it away. Without warning, pressure surged back into her nasal cavity and exploded. She sneezed.

Her entire body lurched with the force of it and a sink across the room exploded, the water froze solid in mid-air. At least she hadn't passed out this time…

"SWEET MOTHER OF ALL OOOWWWWwww!" Naomi moaned, curling into the fetal position and clamping both hands over her nose, massaging gently.

She cracked her eyes open and peered through her tears to survey the damage. Sarutobi Hiruzen stood, hat askew, pipe fallen and eyes as wide as dinner plates at the sudden noise of the explosion. He cleared his throat to recover some decorum and he scooped his pipe up off the floor. She would have laughed if her nose hadn't been on fire.

"Perhaps I should look into that chakra suppresser as soon as possible," He mumbled, trying discretely to fix the alignment of his hat.

"Please do…" was the whined, nasal reply.

She spent the next four days recovering from the cold-like symptoms that had been caused by the manifestation of her Kekkei Genkai, along with its… drawbacks. In the course of those four days she had been moved more times than she could count. This was due to her (unintentionally) freezing the septic space solid and blowing up any water source in the vicinity whenever she sneezed, toilets included.

She was discharged early on the fifth day. She had stopped sneezing (the nurses were very grateful) and most other symptoms had ceased. Saru-jii had come earlier to see her condition for himself and then told her to come to the Hokage's office once she got out.

'_Well, I'm finally out. Let's go see Saru-jii!'_ She thought, feeling light as a feather now that she was finally out of that stuffy hospital.

She made her way into the building and flitted up the stairs to the office, taking three at a time. She was really excited, and it showed as thin layers of frost bloomed wherever she touched, only to melt away once she drifted on.

She reached the imposing oak doors and knocked. When she heard 'enter,' she grasped the metal handles and flung the doors open, a cold blast of air following her in. She walked with a literal spring in her step as she made her way to the dark wood desk, leaving a trail of frost in her wake.

"Good morning Saru-jii!" She sing-songed with a huge grin stretching her face.

"You're in a good mood this morning." He observed, a softer edge coming into his tired eyes.

"How could you tell?" She asked, voice reaching sugary sweet levels as she resisted the urge to leap and pirouette recklessly around the room.

Sarutobi's lips quirked up around his pipe, showing some of his yellowing teeth, "Calm down Naomi. You don't want to be tired for your first day of training do you?"

She bounced on the balls of her feet, "That's just it! I've been cooped up in that hospital for the whole week. Now I'm out and I've got energy to burn!" She finished, appeasing her springy feet by jumping a few inches from the floor.

Loud, raucous laughter was heard outside the building and Naomi faltered on her landing, falling into a sit on the hardwood floor.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" it shouted.

Sarutobi leaped up and hastily opened a window just in time for a black ball to come barreling into the room. The ball unfurled itself and four kunai lodged themselves in the ceiling and floor. Standing in front of what she could see was now a banner, stood a woman in a tan trench coat and orange skirt, with absolutely nothing but fishnet on as a shirt. She had dark purplish-black hair that was pulled up into a very spiky ponytail. Her almond shaped eyes were of a similar color as her hair and the look they held had a spark of mischief not unlike that of Naruto.

"Hey! My name's Mitarashi Anko and I'll be your sensei from now on so try and keep up!" She said, pointing at Naomi.

Looking again, she noticed that Anko had just repeated the white text that was painted on the black fabric. All she could do was stare. Mostly out of shock but also from nervousness. This was someone new and all of Naomi's usual fears started to overshadow her excitement. How did she look? Her hair wasn't sticking out, was it? What would Anko think of her? How should she act? Could she get along with this woman? What if she said or did something wrong and her sensei ended up hating her?

Naomi's mind raced and her heart started to pound uncontrollably, her throat closing with each thud. She kept a well practiced poker face up to hide her trepidation as she fretted unnoticeably. Sarutobi rescued her, thankfully and walked out from behind the banner that had been thrown up in front of him, face remarkably straight.

"Anko. If you're going to be early, could you not use the door like everyone else?" He chastised.

Anko blushed, frozen in her pose. She could have sworn she saw the woman pout.

"Eeeh… but this way I can make more of an impression!" She declared, placing her fists on her hips.

"You've made an impression alright." Naomi deadpanned, the dry humor helped calm her nerves a little as she marveled at how loud this woman was able to talk.

Anko looked at her as if just now seeing her for the first time. She looked Naomi over in a way that made her uncomfortable, lingering on her hair and even her chest. Naomi stood straighter, tilting her head up slightly, unwilling to show how agitated she was.

In her mind she was close to panicking. _'What the heck! Did Saru-jii seriously stick me with some insane, perverted Sensei?! Who's a grown _**_woman_**_ no less!'_

Naomi was feeling more and more irritated as the seconds passed but she remained passive, hoping to give the impression that she could take whatever this woman threw at her. Anko's glance wandered down to Naomi's feet and the cold, white star that had formed there. She walked up to her, squatting and poking at her shoes. She grabbed one of Naomi's ankles and stood up bringing the foot with her. Naomi had to twist her leg awkwardly in order to keep her hip joint from moving the wrong way or getting thrown off balance. She crossed her arms and patiently waited for the strange woman to finish inspecting her leg that was now bent at a one-hundred eighty degree angle in front of her face.

Naomi's muscles were beginning to cramp. "Anko-san, I don't think my leg is supposed to bend that way for very long." She stated, looking at the taller woman as calmly as possible.

Anko let go of her foot and laughed, "That's Anko-sensei to you. I like your attitude hun!"

'_Hun?' _ Naomi raised an eyebrow as she slowly lowered her foot back to the platform of frost she had created on the floor.

"By the way what was your name again?" She asked and Naomi mentally winced.

Oh well. It's not like she wasn't used to hearing that.

"Naomi…" She replied quietly. In her head Naomi cursed her social awkwardness.

Anko walked up to her cupped a hand to her ear. "Eh? You're gonna have to speak up or I won't be able to hear you at this rate."

Her hazel eyes flashed with annoyance and the pitch of her voice dropped as she spoke up. "My name is Naomi."

Completely unfazed, Anko slapped a hand none too gently on her back and laughed obnoxiously again. "I knew you'd be interesting! C'mon let's go train you into an elite ninja!"

Naomi could already feel the vein protruding from her head and she shot a cutting glare at the Hokage. He however, innocently, avoided eye contact, continuing to smoke that blasted pipe of his. He inched his way back to his desk and carefully snuck a glance in her direction. To her satisfaction, he appeared to shiver minutely from the cold energy of her indignation.

Sarutobi sighed. "Naomi, let me give you something before you start your training with Anko."

The Hokage pulled open a drawer and plucked out an elongated white box with a red ribbon tied around the middle. He handed it to her, her irritation evaporating in lieu of this new object. At her questioning look, he nodded and Naomi slipped the ribbon off. She opened the box and inside sitting in a depression of crimson fabric was a snow white, teardrop shaped stone. The stone itself was about two and a half inches long and a semi thick chain ran through a hole near the pointed end of the drop; the rounded end was about as wide across as her thumb.

"Think of it as a late graduation gift." He explained, "That is a type of stone that absorbs chakra. It'll help limit your chakra output so you don't unintentionally damage anything else."

Anko whistled, leaning her arm over Naomi's shoulder, "That's quite the sparkler. Is she gonna have to wear it all the time?"

"Just until she has better control over her energy." He replied.

They both looked at Naomi who was admiring the gem where it hung from its chain. She hadn't been listening to their conversation at all.

'_It's so shiny and pretty… and SHINY!'_ Naomi's childish wonder was interrupted by a flick on her ear.

"You gonna try it on or what?" Anko asked, ignoring the icy glance and equally icy swell of air that emanated from Naomi.

Naomi placed the box down on the desk, unclasped the chain and moved it around her neck, making several attempts until she got it back together. She picked it up from where it rested just above the top button of her cardigan and watched as the stone rapidly turned a deep sapphire blue. She felt as her chakra drained into the stone, taking the chill that still remained in her body with it.

Alleviated of that stress, Naomi sighed happily. "Finally, I'm not cold anymore!"

"I'll say. I was about to freeze my butt off." Anko stated, peeling her arm away to show the thin film that had appeared on her sleeve and hand.

"Ah… Sorry." Naomi apologized, still feeling slightly intimidated by the woman.

Ducking her head to hide her blush, she occupied herself with watching her chakra roll and subtly change in variations of blue within the depths of the polished stone.

The Hokage cleared his throat, commanding their attention. "Naomi, from now on, Anko-san will be your sensei. She will help train you to control your chakra and improve overall as a shinobi. However, six months from now the chunnin exams will be held here in the village and Anko-san will be a proctor. In order to be fair, you will not have any contact with her for three months beforehand; this will be a time you can take to improve further in order to ensure that you succeed in the exams." He raised an eyebrow, "That is, if you decide to participate?"

Naomi grinned as her earlier excitement came back, sweeping some of the uneasiness about her new sensei under the rug. "Yes sir! Definitely!"

"Alright enough chit-chat!" Anko declared, "We've got stuff to do – things to practice, now let's go!" She grabbed Naomi's wrist and before she could protest, Naomi was hauled out of the still open window.

Did she mention they were on the seventh floor?


End file.
